While the adage “don't bring a gun to a knife fight” often rings true when considering that an opponent might be armed with a firearm, the inverse is not necessarily the case when engaging in close combat encounters with said opponent. This is especially true when considering the benefits that a knife can provide in self-defense. For instance, when in close proximity to his opponent, a person armed with a knife is given a clear tactical advantage where the opponent's firearm is not already drawn. The opponent is often unable to unholster and aim the firearm before the person succeeds in executing a close combat attack with his knife.
As a result, a number of combination firearm and knife weapons have been designed which seek to make knives readily available to a fighter in combat. Many of these combination weapons, however, require expensive, uniquely designed firearms which included an added knife chamber into which the knives can retract. Because of this retractability, the firearms often include complicated deployment mechanisms which makes the knives cumbersome to deploy from the firearm and use for immediate close combat action. Yet other knives are configured to extend along the barrel of the firearms, making an array of combat maneuvers difficult and/or impossible to execute, and the combined firearm and knife weapons impractical to use.
While these units may be suitable for the particular purpose employed, or for general use, they would not be as suitable for the purposes of the present disclosure as disclosed hereafter.
In the present disclosure, where a document, act or item of knowledge is referred to or discussed, this reference or discussion is not an admission that the document, act or item of knowledge or any combination thereof was at the priority date, publicly available, known to the public, part of common general knowledge or otherwise constitutes prior art under the applicable statutory provisions; or is known to be relevant to an attempt to solve any problem with which the present disclosure is concerned.
While certain aspects of conventional technologies have been discussed to facilitate the present disclosure, no technical aspects are disclaimed and it is contemplated that the claims may encompass one or more of the conventional technical aspects discussed herein.